According to the Reuters on November 25, the skimpy trunks sported by Singapore’s men’s water polo team at the Asian Games are causing denounce back home, with many embarrassed by their design。
The trunks display the Singaporean flag's white crescent moon and several stars on the front of the red briefs in what has been described as an inappropriate fashion。
The design -- lambasted by readers of Singapore's Straits Times newspaper as "disgusting", "nauseating" and "disgraceful" among other terms -- had not been approved by the country's Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (Mica)， which governs the use of the flag。
"There are a thousand ways to show patriotism, but regrettably, the chap who designed these trunks chose to do it in this disgusting and disrespecting way," one post read on the Straits Times website。
Jose Raymond, the Singapore delegation's head of public relations, said the team were "apologetic if they've offended anyone in any way... they meant the flag no disrespect."